By Ghost Writer
“South Sudanese civilians are paying the heaviest price for the political miscalculations of their leaders” – Yasmin Sooka, chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan
A massacre is afoot in South Sudan’s Jonglei state as the government military battles it out with opposition forces over territorial control. Signs that doom was nigh came on January 25, 2026 when South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) spokesman Major General Lul Ruai Koang ordered civilians living in the Lou Nuer counties of Nyirol, Uror and Akobo to “evacuate for safety to government-controlled areas within 48 hours”. Why? An SSPDF military campaign dubbed “Operation Enduring Peace” was about to begin. The order was, therefore, to ask the civilians to move out fast and “avoid and minimise collateral damage.”
Aid agencies and non-governmental organisations were allowed 48 hours to leave the area, and youths not affiliated to the Nuer militia, the White Army, were ordered to move their families and livestock out of the target areas. The three Lou Nuer counties are controlled by the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in-Opposition (SPLA-IO) led by First Vice President Riek Machar who President Salva Kiir ordered detained on March 26, 2025. He was suspended from his post. Later, on September 11, 2025, Machar was charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity over the March in Nasir, which killed 250 government soldiers. Machar’s allies and some international observers say the charges are politically moticated. He remains under house arrest, while his trial unfolds slowly in the capital, Juba.
Since last December, fighting between SSDPF and the SPLA-IO, now commanded by Machar’s deputy Oyet Nathaniel, has intensified in northern Jonglei, with the latter forces capturing SSPDF garrisons in Waat, Yuai and Pajut.
Just one day before the evacuation order, General Johnson Olony, assistant chief of defence forces for mobilisation and disarmament and commander of the Kiir-supporting Agwelek militia, asked his fighters to be ruthless in the planned Jonglei operations: “When we arrive there, don’t spare an elderly, don’t spare a chicken, don’t spare a house or anything.” These are ominous orders largely pointed at harmless civilians. However, media reports in South Sudan have since concentrated on government and opposition without any focus on the targeted victims. The reasons for this appalling journalistic omission are not far-fetched.
One, President Salva Kiir’s administration, steeped in corruption and all forms of bad governance is hell bent on controlling media content. Journalists deemed not to support government illegalities have been killed, disappeared or forced to flee the country. The opposition has fared no better, save for the fact they aren’t in power.
Two, most parts of South Sudan suffer an acute infrastructural deficiency, complete with non-existent telecommunication network. Communication for the media to harvest latest reports and continuously update reported stories is an uphill task. This explains the constricted net of news coverage that largely leaves out voices from the general population.
Three, with hordes of different militia groups spread all over the land, South Sudanese are highly divided along ethnic groups, presenting divergent witness versions on events based on affiliations and sympathies. For that, the truth shifts according to whoever is interviewed for a story. Jonglei State is inhabited by the Nuer, the Dinka and the Murle.
Fortunately, some voices of reason within and outside South Sudan are appealing to the warring parties to return to dialogue under the framework of the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement. They are describing the proposal as the only viable path to peacefully resolving the current political impasse. This must go along with the media reminding President Kiir that this is likely to fail with the continued detention of Dr Machar.
Lesson learnt? Journalists in South Sudan should immediately form local and international ‘coalitions of the willing’ to harvest and report on the effects of the Jonglei offensive on civilian lives.
